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BY: 



FRANK WING 



HJLTTSTRATED BY 

WILLIAMSON 



"THE dates given in this volume 
are historically correct. So 

are a few of the facts. 

FRANK STANWORTH WING 



Copyright 1913 by Frank S. Wing 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



OF 



NORFOLK IN RAGTIME 








A5 SteN BIT 




TTi i 



"Riccochetted From The Captain's Skypiece.' 



©CI.A35i09G 



NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, may well be described cs an island, 
being situated on a body of land completely surrounded by rivers, 
creeks, estauries and advertising billboards. Through the inter- 
stices of the latter may occasionally be seen glimpses of Chesa- 
peake Bay and the rolling ocean. 

The city is at the southeastern end of the State, in latitude 
36 degrees, 50 minutes, 50 seconds, north, and observations taken 
for a period of five years, beginning in 1856, showed that the 
average temperature is 35 hundredths of a degree cooler than that 
of Portsmouth, Virginia. This, perhaps, accounts for the fact that 
all of the summer resorts are located on the Norfolk side of the 
river. 

Taken as a whole, the temperature is mild and equable, al- 
though General Ben Butler is said to have complained greatly of 
frost when he visited here shortly after the Civil War. Officially, 
the coldest dav on record locally was January 23, 1857, when the 
thermometer registered five degrees below zero at 7 a. m. The 
Elizabeth was frozen solidly enough to permit the crossing of pe- 
destrians and vehicles for several days, and a barroom was built 
in the center of the river, being the first time on record when hot 
Tom and Jerries were servd on ice. The saloon did a rushing 
business, and a number of Norfolk and Portsmouth people are said 
to have slipped out there after a few drinks. 

While on the weather topic, it may be remarked that Norfolk 
and Constantinople, Turkey, have the same average temperature— 
58.26 degrees. So has Trebizond, on the Black Sea. The thou- 
sands of Norfolk people who have visited Trebizond may have 
noticed this. 

Just when Norfolk was settled by so-called civilized people is 
shrouded in mystery. There is a tombstone in St. Paul's church- 
yard bearing the date 1642 and the name of a woman, who very 
possibly may have been one of the maidens told of by Mary John- 
son in "To Have And To Hold." Again, while boring for water 
in 1833, workmen found a strange coin thirty feet below the sur- 
face of the earth. This could not be passed at any saloon, and 
closer examination showed the bit of money to be of either Nor- 
wegian or Roman origin. This should excite no wonder. Many 
strangers have dropped their money in Norfolk. 



That Norfolk has been a place of human habitation for un- 
counted centuries is shown by some of the municipal methods still 
in vogue here. Many of these antedate the Noahian period by 
several geological eras. It would not require a strong imagina- 
tion to visualize some prehistoric Norfolk County magistrate ar- 
raigning our antediluvian ancestor on the charge of exceeding the 
speed limit with his dinosaurus, and fining the unfortunate man 
whatever he happened to have in his pockets. And the fee sys- 
tem is said to have been in use in Assyria 4379 years before the 
first baseball season opened. 

History tells us that the General Assembly of Virginia, on 
June 8, 1680, directed the purchase of fifty acres of land for the 
"Towne of Norfolk," 10,000 pounds of "good merchantable to- 
bacco and caske" being paid. This property ran the length of 
Main street and extended northerly to what is now City Hall ave- 




nue, then a creek. King Charles II, at that time not only de- 
fender of the faith but sovereign of England, Scotland, Ireland, 
France, and then some, authorized the buying of the land in ques- 
tion, but seems to liave taken little interest in the affair, there 
being no record of his even coming over to have a look at his 
newly acquired holdings. This carelessness on his part caused 
much adverse comment at the time, and is typical of some mon- 
archs. Queen Victoria, who held stock in many American rail- 
roads, never used a single one of the passes presented her. 

Another Act of Assembly in 1691 incorporated Norfolk and 
Hampton as towns, and an often disputed question may as well be 
settled now. Norfolk and Hampton are the oldest incorporated 
cities of any importance in the State. Williamsburg, thought by 
many to be of great antiquity, was not incorporated until eight 
years later, and Richmond not until 1752. Jamestown was incor- 
porated in 1669, but is now hardly more than the memory of a 
village. 

Norfolk received a royal charter in 1736 and immediately pro- 
ceded to burden itself with a council, who held their first meeting 
on November 18, of that year, when a number of important mat- 
ters were "placed on the table." They are still there. 

Samuel Boush became first mayor, dying in office, and Sir 
John Randolph (knight) was appointed recorder, or police justice. 
A knight was somebody else in those long-gone days, and it is not 
likely that there were any appeals from Sir John's decisions. Sir 
John presented Norfolk with its beautiful and unique silver civil 
mace. 

It may not be amiss at this juncture to mention the remark- 
able recoord of John E. Holt. This gentleman was regularly ap- 
pointed mayor of the city in 1808 and served the full term of one 
year. He was again elected in 1815, serving another full year. 
He then began his career as a substitute mayor by serving four 
months of the unexpired term of William B. Lamb in 1817. From 
this time until 1832, when he died in office, he was what might 
be called a permanent substitute mayor. There were fifteen ap- 
pointments of other men, but they didn't seem to want the job. 
After a day or so of service, each would resign, and Holt would 
be selected to take his place. Only two of the regularly elected 
mayors served more than a week. These two were Wright South- 
gate and Giles B, Cook, each of whom held down the billet for 
ten days. Two or, at most, three days was the limit in the other cases. 







On July 4, 1741, the com- 
mon council passed an ordi- 
nance providing that a fine of 
five shillings be imposed on 
any male inhabitant who at- 
tended divine service without 
first properly arming himself. 
Pear of invasion or insurrec- 
tion prompted this action. 
The pastor of St. Paul's 
church delivered his sermons 
with a pistol lying on the 
bible stand (fact) ; and it is 
said that his habit of care- 
lessly toying with the weapon 
while the collection was taken 
up yielded the church an im- 
_ mense revenue (probably a 

lie.) 
Talbot street was opened in 1765, and was the most fashion- 
able residential thoroughfare in the city. It isn't now. 

One year after the opening of Talbot street, the Sons of Liberty 
were organized and protested against the obnoxious Stamp Act. 
A resolution, embodying the objections and signed by fifty-seven 
property holders, was adopted. In one respect, this is the most 
remarkable document in English literature, there not being the 
name of a Smith, a Jones or a Johnson among the signatures. 

General dissatisfaction at the methods employed by Great Bri- 
tain to collect taxes grew, and, in 1775, the Virginians began to 
prepare for war. In October of that year. Holt's printing establish- 
ment, of Norfolk, was burned by Lord Dunmore, who justified him- 
self by claiming that seditious articles were being printed. As a 
matter of fact, it is thought that the action of the paper in repeat- 
edly misspelling his lordship's name in the society column had 
something to do with the case. Also a squib editorial which stated 
that "The law'd done more for Virginia if Lord Dunmore 'd been 
jailed thirty years previously." 



While the colonists were greatly 
enraged, there are two sides to ev- 
ery question, and the statement 
that Lord Dunmore, fifteen min- 
utes before the conflagration, was 
seen to float out of the third story 
window of Holt's shop, with the 
keyboard of a linotype around his 
neck and a bucket of printing ink 
hanging from one ear, may indi- 
cate that he had made an unsuc- 
cessful effort to arbitrate with the 
printers. At any rate, Lord Dun- 
more, after ridding his system of 
ten pounds of 6-point type, swore 
r-r-revenge; and the first local 
home of typographical errors went 
up in smoke. 

Shortly after this, on December 
9, Lord Dunmore again got his — 
this time at Great Bridge, where 
his forces met, and were routed by, 
the Virginians. To judge by the 
way the Red Coats streaked it through Norfolk after the engage- 
ment, the Virginians must have routed them via fast freight with 
demurrage charges on all stopovers. One English lieutenant is said 
to have run aground on Berkley Flats while trying to slow up for 
the corner of Bank and Queen streets. 

Lord Dunmore, who had sought refuge aboard one of the Brit- 
ish vessels in the harbor, now developed a severe case of America- 
phobia. That man got so he couldn't abide the name of Norfolk. 
Who can blame him? Even to a person of the most equable tem- 
perament, there is something irritating about being shot at every 
time you step out for a breath of fresh air. There is little or no 
pleasure in having to interrupt your morning constitutional by div- 
ing down a hatchway six inches in advance of an allopathic dose 
of hardware sundries. All of this did the Virginians do unto his 





"^,::f ij 



lordship. There were no dainty rules of 
warfare in those days, and the Virgin- 
ians were using as ammunition any- 
thing that looked hard. A sailor on the 
English flagship was struck by an alarm 
clock, the projecting key of which came 
near winding up his earthly affairs. 
The poor fellow got up at 6 a. m. every 
day for the rest of his life and constant- 
ly complained of a ringing in his ears. 
Thoroughly peeved, Lord Dunmore 
demanded that the city furnish him with 
supplies and what was left of the un- 
'■"^ fortunate local Anglomaniacs. These 

lovers of dear old Hengland had been having a rugged time of it in 
Norfolk, which was no place for Willie Waldorf Astors and other 
expatriates at that writing. The naval officer who bore the de- 
mand to shore returned on a shutter and told his lordship that the 
Virginians had promised to take the matter up at their next meet- 
ing. 

"At which I trust that I may not be present," he concluded 
dolefully. 

''This is, indeed, ye fierceness," quoth Lord Dunmore, and, 
on the afternoon of January 1, 1776, began a bombardment of the 
town. 

During the cannonade the city caught fire, and, with the ex- 
ception of St. Paul's church, was destroyed. Whether the torch 
was applied by the British or by the revolutionists, who swore that 
Lord Dunmore should never occupy Norfolk, is a matter of histori- 
cal dispute. Whoever was responsible made a good job of it. 

Hundreds of Norfolk citizens were compelled to camp out, 
and it is only with effort that the historian refrains from saying 
that their sufferings were in tents. Others, more unfortunate, were 
forced to live temporarily in Suffolk. Some of them never got 
over the shock. 

Previous to its destruction, Norfolk was the largest and most 
prosperous settlement in the Virginia colony. It had a population 
of over 6,000, and its yearly rents were estimated at $50,000. The 
loss by fire and cannon shot amounted to more than $1,500,000 — 
some money in those olden days. 



But every cloud has a silver lining. Think of the boost to 
the souvenir postcard business that was given by the cannon ball 
imbedded in the side of St. Paul's church! 

In 1781, the Norfolk and Portsmouth Chronicle, a newspaper, 
was started by a New York firm. One proprietor died and the 
paper went out of business within six months. Other proprietors 
said to be still running. The Norfolk Herald, first published in 
1787, was more successful, and "got out on time" for many years. 

Speaking of newspapers, the first on record in Virginia was 
published at Williamsburg. This is not intended as a slur on the 
daily press, but as a statement of fact. The paper was issued 
weekly and taxed the subscriber about $1.00 per copy — $50 a year, 
to be exact. There were few sporting or other extras sold on the 
streets. A small advertisement in this journal de luxe cost $10 for 
the first insertion and $7 for each subsequent one. No one adver- 
tised for "rooms wanted" at that time; it was cheaper to build 
a house of your own. 




Work on the Dismal Swamp canal was begun in 1787, Patrick 
Henry, a rather well-known orator, being among the first sub- 
scribers to the stock. Dismal Swamp has since proved a gold 
mine to the Suffolk newspaper correspondents, who are always 
sending out strange stories of that wierd region. A circus train 
was wrecked there many years ago; the liberated animals escaped 
and were lost; and what better opportunity could be asked by the 
fertile-minded newspaper man? Therefore be not surprised when 
you read that a giraffe approached the humble home of some 
Swamp Angel, and, thrusting his head down the chimney, blew out 
the kitchen fire; or that some lineal descendant of the boxing kan- 
garoo attended a revival meeting, pocketed the collection, and then 
administered scientific solar plexi to all who opposed him. 
^ Norfolk in 1800, had a population of 6,926. Among the in- 
habitants was one George Fritz, who had lost an eye while serving 
as a drummer during the Revolutionary War. Despite his afflic- 
tion, Mr. Fritz is said to have played the snare drum both tune- 
fully and well. 

Gosport navy yard was established one year later. Gosport 
was afterward known as New Town and, saill later, as South Ports- 
mouth. It has always been famous as an athletic center, and many 
foot races have been run from Lincoln street to the ferry wharf by 
Norfolk swains whose original intentions had been to call on some 
of the charming young ladies of South Portsmouth. 

One Gosport athlete is reported to have thrown a cobblestone 
across Southern Branch. This throw was later disqualified, it hav- 
ing been proved that the missile riccochetted in midstream from 
the bald head of one Thomas Fornetty, master mariner. This deci- 
sion, so states a veracious historian, ''caused ye hot time in ye New 
Towne thatte nyte." 

During the same year, (1801), the Chamber of Commerce was 
organized, with a charter membership of 45 citizens. One of its 
first acts was to pass a resolution approving of the fact that the 
sun rises on the Cape Henry side of the city. This body has passed 
many other equally important resolutions. 



S' 




Stepping backward a few 
years, it may be mentioned 
that a lottery, authorized 
by act of assembly, was 
held in Norfolk county in 
1787, for the purpose of 
raising funds with which to 
rebuild a church. A total 
of $3,500 was secured and 
a new building, in which 
the unsuccessful ticket- 
holders could repent at 
leisure, was constructed. 
During this year — remark- 
able for an extremely high 
tide and a devasting 
drought — lightning struck 
a warehouse containing at 
the time two negroes and 300 pounds of gunpowder. A cousin of 
the departed men used to remark afterward that he had relatives 
scattered all over Virginia. 

There were only ten lawyers in Norfolk in 1806. Let no one 
hereafter sneer at the "good old times." 

This was a remarkable year for many reasons. The work of 
renaming and numbering the streets commenced, and has been con- 
tinued merrily until today. One of the latest methods of number- 
ing a Norfolk house is to divide the age of the oldest occupant by 
three and multiply the result by the total number of flies swatted 
in Iceberg county, Greenland, during the thaw of 1457. Reverse 
the figures and nail over the front door, upside down. 

William Wirt, afterward attorney-general for the United 
States, was here during this busy twelve-month, and complained 
greatly of the high cost of living. He was charged $3 for a leg 
of mutton, and promptly told them to let it stay on the sheep. 
English standards of money were used, and eggs sold for 2 shill- 
ings, 3 pence per dozen. One grocery clerk lost his mind while 
trying to calculate what 37 eggs would cost if the customer was 
allowed 8 per cent, off for cash. 

Thomas Moore, the English poet, visited Norfolk this same 
year, and, while here, wrote "The Lake of the Dismal Swamp." 



As no mention is made in the poem of exorbitant charges for eggs 
or mutton, it is possible that the attorney-general either exagger- 
ated facts or was stung by some unscrupulous dealer. 

In 1810 Norfolk had a population of 10,000 and a commerce 
greater than that of Baltimore. One writer states that it was pos- 
sible on occasions to walk from Norfolk to Portsmouth on the decks 
of the ships which crowded the harbor. This statement is given 
as it stands and without comment, but one cannot help wondering 
if Doc. Cooke ever had any ancestors living around Norfolk in the 
olden days. There was a crusade against transparent women's 

wear at this time, and the more modest ladies wore long dr 

pantalets. (See illustration). All you had to do was to get a 
couple of bolster-covers, sew ruffles on them, and be right in 
style. 

There were no moving picture shows in Norfolk at this time, 
but the city supported the following places of amusement: A the- 
atre, the Wigwam Gardens, the Vauxhall Garilens and Baths, Rosa- 
Iain's Bower, Lindsay's Retreat (Why in the world hadn't they 
named it "Dunmore's Retreat?"), Museum Naturae, and Botanical 
Gardens. These were well patronized. Besides, there was no fan- 
tastic police force to issue orders forbidding bathing in the Eliza- 
beth river except during a total eclipse of the sun. Gone are the 
happy days when the nude boy descending the staircase (see 
futurist pictures) could wade out fifteen miles from Mallory Beach 
at low tide in an effort to find waist-deep water, and come back 
with his feet so full of oyster shells that he had to walk home on 
his hands. 

An act of assembly in 1811 authorized 1he corporation to erect 
street lamps. This was before the days of illuminating gas and 
Down Home excursions, so no alarm was felt for the safety of the 
stranger within the gates. This was also before the inhabitants of 
every village with a street having more than eight lights on it 
began to speak of said street as a "great white way." 

With a most inconvenient (for herself) lack of memory of her 
follies of 1776, Great Britain had again started trying to break it 
off in the colonies. English men-o'war recruited wholesale from any 
American vessel they could overpower, and press-gangs became 
the rage. No American sailor was safe outside of his home jail. 
More than one full-rigged ship had to be sculled back to harbor 




id«o 



by the captain and first mate after 
meeting a British vessel on the high 
seas. This grew monotonous, and, in 
1812, the United States declared war on 
Great Britain. 

Historic Craney Island, where the 
yellow flag of the Board of Health 
floats proudly on the breeze, was attack 
ed by the British on June 22, 1813. The 
British were repulsed; in fact, one of 
them said afterward that it was the most 
repulsive repulse he had ever stacked up 
against. Although the English outnum- 
beered the Virginians nearly ten to one, 
they were driven back after a loss of one hundred men in killed, 
wounded and captured. The Virginians lost only one man — a care- 
less sentry who tried to celebrate the occasion by lighting a pipe 
in the powder magazine. This left the American forces shy one 
sentry and the rest of their ammunition; but the English, in full 
retreat, fortunately did not stop long enough to discover this. In 
the language of the prize ring, they never came back. 

There is a quaint, Viking-like flavor about the fact that, dur- 
ing this war, Norfolk harbor was guarded from invasion by an 
immense chain stretched across the river from Fort Norfolk to the 
site of the Naval Hospital. Anyone equipped with a modern rifle 
could have stood outside that chain and made a man in Bramble- 
ton pray at the top of his voice. There is something modern, how- 
ever, about the dispute which arose afterward between the Ameri- 
can naval and land forces as to which body of men was entitled to 
credit for the victory. Each claimed that the other wasn't within 
long-distance telephone range of the fight, anl, but for the kindly 
intervention of death, they would probably be disputing yet. 

People seemed to have the knack of longevity in those days. 
In 1819, Wonder Booker, a negro, died in Princess Anne county, 
aged 120 years. His mother, who was 58 years old when he was 
bom, did not survive him. Booker, who celebrated his 118th birth- 
day by getting spiflicated, was dismissed in the police court with 
a reprimand, the justice telling him that he was old enough to know 
better. A Princess Anne lady died this year whose age was 99 
years, 11 months and 30 days — lacking one day of completing the 




span of a century. She left 
a servant who is said to have 
reached the age of 120 years. 
On May 15, 1818, the city 
council authorized the bor- 
rowing of money to con- 
struct a stone bridge on 
Granby street. They failed 
to authorize anyone to lend 
the money, hov/ever, and the 
matter remained in statu 
quo for some time. The spot 
where the bridge eventually 
stood is now occupied in the 
daytime by a traffic police- 
man. 
Lafayette visited Norfolk 
on October 22, 1824, and was royally entertained. ( Where has that 
,term been used before? It seems familiar). The old gentleman 
left, happy in the knowledge that the city park and Tanner's creek 
would be named for him in future years. John E. Holt, of whom 
mention has already been made, was mayor of Norfolk at the time. 
He always was in those days. 

Snow fell in Norfolk on April 7, 1828, for the first time in two 
years. Open seaso for silk hats and derbies was declared by all 
public school students able to throw a straight ball. One estimable 
citizen incautiously passed the Norfolk Academy at recess hour, 
and his wife had to use a can-opener later before she could remove 
his patent-leather bonnet from his head. Wise men mapped out 
their homeward route so as to avoid all institutions of learning. 

Although vessels propelled by steam had previously been seen 
here, the first steam ferry between Norfolk and Portsmouth was 
run in 1832. A sad accident marked the initial trip : one of the 
Portsmouth passengers mistaking the cylinder exhaust valve for 
a speaking tubs. He was shortly afterward presented with a set 
of false teeth by the sympathetic officials of the ferry. This was 
the first specimen of artificial dentistry seen south of Crawford 
street, and was used for years as a nutmeg grater. 

Early Wednesday morning, November 15, 1832, the citizens of 



Norfolk were witnesses of an extraordi- 
nary meteoric display. For a time, the 
sky was one tangled maze of shooting 
stars, and, within ten minutes, the popu- 
lation of Dismal Swamp had increased 
four thousand per cent. Those who 
glimpsed the fietry heavens gave one 
glance upward, dodged a time or so, and 
then beat it for the land ''where the 
rattlesnake sings in his lair." This last 
quotation may not be absolutely correct. 
Many people thought the world was 
coming to an end, and it required the services of a hook-and-ladder 
company to get one councilman out of the top of a tall tree on 
Brewer street. 

August 27, one year later, a severe earthquake shock was ex- 
perienced. Dismal Swamp again showed signs of great activity. 

February, 1835, was some cold. History states that the mercury 
went down to 25 degrees below zero, but not this history. Maybe 
in those days they used patent summer resort thermometers which 
wouldn't rise about sixty degrees if you put them in a glass-smelt- 
ing furnace. 




- - -if> 





Norfolk celebrated the one 
hundredth anniversary of the 
granting of its royal charter in 
1836. There was a big proces- 
sion, at the head of which was 
carried the city mace. This 
mace was presented to the city 
by Sir John Randolph in 1736; 
it was also presented to the 
city by Robert Dinwiddle, lieu- 
tenant-governor of Virginia, in 
1753. At least, that's what 
the histories say. The reader 
can take his choice. Follow- 
ing the parade, there were 
aquatic sports and a display of 
fireworks at night. The day 
was passed pleasantly and without accident to anyone except an 
inebriated gentleman, who tried to light his cigar with the busi- 
ness end of a Roman candle. 

Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, afterward emperor of 
France, visited the city on April 19, 1837, and was the first guest 
to register at the just completed French's Hotel. This building 
still stands at the southeast corner of Main and Church streets, 
and was known at one time as the Hotel Norfolk. To judge by their 
actions, the last time a real English duke visited there, a modern 
gang of New York City free-born Americans would have carted 
the structure away, brick by brick, as precious souvenirs. 

Back creek was filled in in 1839, and the reclaimed land used 
as a park. This property extends from Bank to Cumberland 
streets, and a portion of it is occupied by the city hall and other 
municipal buildings. Many a typical old Norfolkian wept at the 
sight of such progress. One of them wrote a stirring article to the 
newspaper, stating that this action on the part of the city officials 
was a gross imposition on a lot of inoffensive soft crabs and peri- 




winkles. Praise be, this 
breed is fading out ; but, 
"booster" stood about as 
until a few years ago, a 
much show around Nor- 
folk as a one-legged white 
man would have had at a 
negro cake-walk. 

The corner-stone of the 
Norfolk Academy was 
laid in 1840. Any Norfolk 
citizen who fails to tell a 
stranger that this is con- 
sidered one of the most 
perfect types of Greek 
architecture in the United 
States is either dumb or 
else suffering from senile dementia. On a conservative estimate, 
that remark about the Academy and the Green architecture has 
been made 36,743,526 times. 

Hail stones nearly five inches in diameter fell in Norfolk on 
December 17, 1840. Hothouse owners went into bankruptcy, and 
picket fences and hitching posts were driven out of sight in the 
ground. . One of these hailstones, in a state of perfect preserva- 
tion, is still used as a paper weight in the office of the city treas- 
urer. 

There were nature fakers even in those days. In an article 
published by a local paper some years ago, it was stated that the 
drum fish caused untold damage to the oyster crop. This denizen 
of the deep was said to chew up an oyster, shell and all, as easily 
as an alligator could masticate a cream puff. As a destroyer of 
oysters, the drum couldn't be beat. The common or garden crab 
was said to capture the savage oyster by throwing sand in its eyes. 
Both of these statements are respectfully referred to T. Roosevelt. 
Henry Clay visited Norfolk on April 24, 1844. As he alighted 
from his carriage, Mr. Clay was cordially saluted by the mayor, city 
officials and Norfolk Light Artillery Blues. Mr. Clay spoke feel- 
ingly on the future of Norfolk, but kindly refrained from mention- 
ing the future of some of its citizens. 




An artesian well was sunk 
on old Market Square this 
year. Strange to say, the 
Norfolk County Water Com- 
pany did not immediately 
begin to operate a plant on 
the next corner. They have 
become more progressive in 
later years. 

A plague of caterpillars 
~ hit town the same year. 
These pests, after eating 
every tree and table leaf in 
the city of Norfolk, proceed- 
ed to the navy yard, where 
they destroyed large quan- 
tities of shore leaves. One 
Norfolk gentleman, while 
descending the steps of the 
Custom House, stepped on a flock of these insects, and slid up 
Granby street to Flatiron Square before he could be persuaded to 
stop. 

Norfolk became a full-fledged "city" by an act of legislature 
on February 13, 1845. Our good friend, "Old Norfolk Citizen," 
and his ilk opposed this strenuously; but could give no reason for 
doing so. What cared they for reasons, if they could keep back 
the city? 

" Their 's not to reason why; 

Their 's but to knock or die." 

The city was first illuminated by gas in 1849, the plant being 
located at Walke and Mariner streets. Rosin was used as fuel, but 
coal was substituted after three destructive fires and a law suit 
brought on by the smoke nuisance. The gas plant was moved to its 
present location in 1853. This is still known as the scenter of the 
town. 

With 1850, this history of Norfolk closes. There were a num- 
ber of important events during that year. The present city hall 
was completed, with a cistern that could hold 45,000 gallons of 
water, if necessary, and a cupola from the dizzy heights of which 
a keen observer can easily see the Monticello Hotel and the Masonic 



Temple. The Avon Theatre 
was bnrned and there was a 
frost in April which remained 
unparalleled until some of the 
Northern papers described 
the opening of the James- 
town Exposition. A tornado 
frolicked through Norfolk 
county in August, and, amid 
other damage, blew an elderly 
gentleman's whiskers so deep, 
ly into a pine fence that it 
was necessary to sever the 
beard with a saw before he 
could be released. Other 
owners of whiskers hummed 
like aeolian harps until they 
secured shelter from the 
swirling breeze. 

Norfolk, at this time, had a population of 14,320. Since then, 
despite the setbacks of the yellow fever, the Civil War, and the 
machinations of the "Old Norfolk Citizen" before mentioned, the 
city has grown steadily, and now has the honor of having public 
servants who receive more money than the highest officials of the 
United States Government. Granby street, once the promenade of 
Colonian gentlemen and dames, now teems with busy life, and will 
teem with still busier death if the police don't pay less attention to 
the Elizabeth river bathing facilities and put the brakes on some 
of the automobile enthusiasts who are turning that thoroughfare 
into a race course. 

So ends this tale. Norfolk is an unusually interesting town 
from a historic point of view, and, besides this valuable document, 
there are other histories of the quaint old place in the bygone cen- 
turies that will repay reeading. 

But, by all means, read this one first. 




JUL 21 J913 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 444 299 4 #1 



Arthur H. Riddick & Co. 

QUALITY PRINTERS 

40 Fayette St., Norfolk, Va. 



